In the April issue of the JES Chandra contributed an article on the problems India has had in building gas pipelines to feed its growing economy.
May 13 : Blast on Yemeni natural gas pipeline supplying the Balhaf Export terminal in the Gulf of Aden, near Mayfaa in Shabwa province. Prior attack on April 26. Both apparently Al Qaeda.
May 30 : Blast on 12in Syrian oil pipeline in Deir al-Zor province, connecting Abu Hamam and Gharaneej. Prior attacks: April 21, same pipeline; April 30, oil pipeline between the villages of Mahkan and al-Qouriya in Deri Ezzor, valve damaged and large amounts of oil leaked; March 26, blast on diesel pipeline between Hama and Homs at Taldao; February 15, diesel pipeline connecting Homs refinery with fuel tanks in Arda. There's also a report of a May 15 blast near al-Mayadeen on the oil pipeline to Banias refinery.
May 30 : Blast on Azerbaijan-Turkey natural gas pipeline near Sarikamis.
A number of recent articles regarding the provision restricting spending on non-petroleum fuels in the recent National Defense Authorization bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives appear to have gotten the story wrong. It's a pretty confusing story to follow so that's not surprising.
For example,
Fred Kaplan writes in Slate
: "Republican leaders passed an amendment barring the entire Defense Department from using any alternative fuels, for any purpose, if they’re more expensive than oil. But then, in a shameless disclosure of who’s paying the tiller,
they tacked on a provision exempting coal and natural gas from this prohibition.
" (emphasis added)
Noah Shachtman wrote in Wired
: "House Republicans...last Wednesday voted to impose its ban on alt-fuels that cost more than the traditional stuff....But the armed services committee didn’t put limits on all alternative fuels — just the...